Method and means of extinguishing fires



t e J Ni nm'rn a. mama, or nanrmoait,

mn'rnon AND means or nx'rmeuIsnme FIRES.

E Drawing.

tively extinguishing fires occurring in such.

bodies of materials and to remove the dangers, hazards and other disagreeable features incident to the methods and means heretofore employed for extinguishing fires. More specifically, it is an object of-this invention to provide a method and means whereby an operator may readily ascertain when the fire is extinguished in the interior of such bodies of material so as to enable the operator to correctly judge when to discontinue the application of the fire extinguisher, thereby avoiding unnecessary waste of the extinguishing material.

A further object of this invention is to provide a method and means whereby it may be readily and conveniently determined when a body of combustible material which has been treated with the fire extinguisher ceases to evolve noxious, toxic'and'otherwise objectionable fumes, thus enabling the operator to determine whether or not to enter in the vicinity of such material, or whether precautionary measures are necessary before such entry.

Fire extinguishers have prepared from the liquid,

40 phatic hydrocarbons, such as etc. These fire extinguishing liquids have been applied to the bodies of burning or smouldering material, the vapors of such liquids serving to displace the air from such bodies and forming a lingering, coherent and enveloping atmosphere which does not support combustion. The disadvantages of using these materials have been that the vapors are practically non-detectable. owing to so their substantially negligible visibility. This has resulted in the use of a large excess of the fire extinguishing liquidbeyond'that necessary for the extinction of the fire because of the impracticability of ascertaining when a suflicient amount of the tire extinguisher heretofore been chlorinated, ali- Application filed March 14, rest. Serial 1%. 625,172.

has been employed. Also, in view of the noxlous, toxic and otherwise objectionable character of these vapors and decomposition products thereof occurring during the fire ext nguishing-operation, fatalities and other physrcal 1n ur1es have occurred to persons entering in the vicinity of the bodies of materral which have been treated by these fire extmgulshers, due chiefly to the fact that such persons were unable to observe whether these fumes were issuing from such bodies and had no means to warn them of their danger.

In practicing my invention, I add to ahalogenated hydrocarbon of the aliphatic series, such as C61 CHCl C 01 etc., a substance which will give warning when a sufliclent amount of the fire extinguisher has been applied to complete the operation and also give warning of the issuance of the toxic or other objectionable gases from the material from which the fire has been extinguished. Y

For this purpose, I employ a substance whlch upon issuing into the atmosphere will react with a constituent thereof to form a product which may be easily and convenlently detected by its visibility. The preferred materials which I employ are the liquid metallic substances which fume in the air and do not react with the halogenated hydrocarbon, for example, TiCl,,, TiCl and SiCl, used either singly or in combination, and I add such material to the chlorinated hydrocarbon, such as GU1 This results in a substantially homogeneous liquid mixture. These metallic halides, upon issuing into the air react with the water vapor of the airto form a dense cloud or smoke that is readily visible. 1

' A specific example of preparin my fire extinguishing composition is as fol ows. To a quantity of CO1 there is added about 5 to 25 per cent by volume of TiCl,,. The quantity of the latter may be varied, accord- 100 ing to the particular conditions but in generalI employ about 10 er cent. A sufficient quantity of the Ti 1 should be prescut to give the necessary warning, but for economic reasons it is not necessary to have 5 an excess of the TiCl beyond that required to give sufiicient warning. The mixture is liquid at ordinary temperatures, will not freeze under severe weather-conditions, gives a large volume of vapor which is non-com- 10 1 they gravitate and displace the air.

further addition of the fire extinguisher,

bustible and heavy enough to blanket the air from t1 9 fire am}i is visible. h In usin m re ex inguis ing composition, it .lS przferably introduced into the heart of the fire by means of a tube or plpe in the form of a spray until White fumes are observed at the surfam of the body of the material being treated.v The C01 and TlCl upon reaching the fire become va rized,

and since these vapors are heavier t an air 11 of the fire extinguisher to the pile is unnecessary. Thisalso serves as a warning that the toxic, noxious and objectionable fumes are issuing from the pile and indlcates to the operator such danger. When the smoke no longer appears upon the surface of the pile, the operator knows that no more toxic or objectionable fumes are ISSulIl from the pile and that it is safe to go to t e pile for whatever purpose he may deemmecessary. My fire extinguishing composition should be stored in an air-tight containersuch as tin or glass, but I prefer to use metal cans, which are sealed against the entry of an. These cans may be provided with fuslble plugs and, if it is desired to protect a pile of material against destruction by fire due to spontaneous combustion a metal can having the fusible plug and containlng my fire extinguishin llquid may be placed'within the center 0 the pile and if a fire develops the plug will fuse and allow the liquid to ass out of the container and extin lsh the re. The vapors of the fire extm isher rising to the top of the pile will orm a cloud or smoke upon reachin the atmosphere and thus give warning t at a fire has taken place within the pile and that toxic and objectionable gases are issuing from the ile. p The present invention is not limited to the specific details set forth in the foregoing examples which should be' construed as illustrative and not by way of limitation, and in view of the numerous modifications which maybe effected therein without departing from the spirit and scope of this invention it is desired that only such limitations be imposed as are indicated in the appended chums.

-prising a warning agent for rea ily indicating the issuance of toxic, noxious and objectionable gases from the material from which the fire has been extinguished, said warning agent being dissolved in a halogenated aliphatic hydrocarbon.

3. In a fire extinguisher, a non-combustible, non-flammable, non-aqueous li uid comprising a warning agent for readily indicating when a sufiicient quantity of the fire extinguisher has been applied to complete the operation and the issuance of toxic, noxious and objectionable gases from the material from which thefire has been extinguished, said warning agent being dissolved in a vhalogenated aliphatic hydrocarbon.

4. In a fire extinguisher, a non-combustible,. non-flammable, non-aqueous liquid comprising a substance which readily forms with water vapor a smoke readily detectable by its visibility, said substance being-dis solved in a halogenated aliphatic hydrocarbon.

5. In a fi-re extinguisher, a non-combustible, non-flammable liquid comprising a halide of an element of the fourth group of theperiodic table having an atomic weight of 25-125, said halide being dissolved in a halogenated aliphatic hydrocarbon. 6. In a fire extinguisher, a non-combustible, non-flammable liquid comprising a chloride of an element of the fourth group of the periodic table having an atomic weight of 25-50, said chloride beingdissolved in a halogenated aliphatic hydrocarbon.

7. In a fire extinguisher, a non-combustible, non-flammable, nonueous liquid comprising a halogenated aliphatic hydrocaron having in solution a substance which readily forms with a oonstitu'tent of the atmosphere a product readily detectable by its vislbilty. v 8. In a extinguisher, a non-combustible, non-flammable, non-aqueous liuid comprising a halogenated aliphatic by 0- carbon in solution with a halide of an element of the fourth group of the periodic table having an atomic weight of 25-50.

9. In a fire extinguisher, a non-combustible, non-flammable, non-a ueous 1i uid comprising a halogenated alip atic hy ocarbon in solution with titanium tetrachloride.

10. In a fire extinguisher, a non-combustible, non-flammable liquid comprising carbon tetrachloride and titanium tetrachloride.

11. In a process of extinguishing fires within bodies of granular combustible material disposed in barges, holds, bins, bunkers, pits, and other confined places, introducing into the burning material a non-combustible, non-flammable, non-aqueous liquid comprising a substance which readily forms with a constituent of the atmosphere a product readily detectable by its visibility until a cloud or smoke appears on the surface of the granular material.

12. In a process of extin uishing fires within bodies of granular com ustible material disposed in bar es, holds, bins, bunkers, pits, and other con ned places, introducing into the burning material a spray of a non-combustible, non-flammable, non-aqueous liquid comprising a substance which readily forms with water vapor a smoke readily detectable by its visibility and continuing said spray until a cloud or smoke appears on the surface of the granular material.

13. In a process of extinguishing fires from bodies of granular combustible material disposed in barges, holds, bins, bunkers, pits and other confined places, introducing into the burning material a non-combustible, non-flammable, non-aqueous liquid comprising a halide of an element of the fourth group of the periodic table having an atomic weight of 25-125.

14. In a process of extinguishing fires within bodies of granular combustible material disposed in bar es, holds, bins, bunkers, its, and other con ned places, introducing 1nto the burning material a non-combustible, non-flammable, non-aqueous liquid comprising titanium tetrachloride until a cloud or smoke appears on the surface of the granular material.

15. In a, process of extin ishing fires within bodies of granular com ustible material disposed in bar es, holds, bins, bunkers, pits, and other con ned places, introducing into the burning material a spray of a non-combustible, non-flammable, non-aqueous liquid comprising a halogenated aliphatic hyrodcarbon having in a solution a substance which readily forms with a constituent of the atmosphere a product readily detectable by its visibility and continuing said spray until a cloud or smoke appears on the surface of the granular material.

16. In a process of extinguishing fires within bodies of granular combustible material disposed in bar s, holds, bins, bunkers, pits, and other con ned places, introducing into the burning material a non-combustible, non-flammable, non-aqueous liquid comprising a halogenated aliphatic hydrocarbon having in solution a substance which readily forms with water vapor a smoke readily detectable by its visibility until a cloud or smoke appears on the surface of the granular material.

17. In a process of extinguishing fires within bodies of granular material disposed in barges, holds, bins, bunkers, pits and other confined places, introducing into the burning material a non-combustible, non-flammable, non-aqueous liquid comprising a halogenated, aliphatic hydrocarbon having in soluti on a halide of an element of the fourth group of the periodic table having an atomic weight of 25-50, until a cloud or smoke appears on the surface of the granular material.

18. In a process of extinguishing fires within bodies of granular combustible material disposed in bar es, holds,.bins, bunkers,

pits, and other con ned places, introducing into the burning material a spray of a noncombustible, non-flammable liquid comprising carbon tetrachloride and titanium tetrachloride and continuing said spray until a cloud or smoke appears on the surface of the granular material.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

KENNETH H. KIEFER. 

